I. Dadic, T. Petrinovic, P. Brlek: Traffic System on the Island of

IVAN DADIC, D.Sc. Traffic Infrastructure Institut prometa i veza, Zagreb Review TOMISLAV PETRINOVIC, U.D.C. 656.022(210.7)(497.5) PREDRAG BRLEK, B. Eng. i\ccepted: 11ar. 17, 1998 Fakultet prometnih znanosti, Zagreb 1\pproved: Jul. 14, 1998

TRAFFIC SYSTEM ON THE ISLAND OF KRK

SUMMARY spatial significance of the island in the past resulted in the unified dynamic elements of the geographic loca­ The construction of the bridge mainland - Krk has inte­ tion, providing the island as a whole with the necessary grated the island of Krk into a unique road traffic system of energy. and the Croatian seaside. The bridge, together with the In the traffic evaluation of the island of Krk a very ferryboat lines Senj and Baska, have significantly improved the important role belongs to the splendid bridge con­ traffic connections of the islands of and , especially necting it to the mainland. Out of all the Adriatic is­ with Rijeka and the seaside of the counties: Primorsko-goran­ lands only Pag and Ciovo are connected with the ska and Licko-senjska and Istarska zupanija. mainland by bridges. Moreover, the traffic system of Apart from the connection of the island of Krk with the mainland and the neighbouring islands, also the interurban the island of Krk today and tomorrow provides a con­ connections within the islands are very important. nection, especially because of the direct road connec­ The development of tourism will increase the significance tion with the mainland, for the islands of Cres, Rab of the Krk Airport, especially during the tourist season. and Losinj. Since these islands "fill" the Kvarner Bay, their connections needs to be considered both in link­ ing with the traffic system of the Istrian peninsula, but 1. INTRODUCTION also with the mainland from Rijeka to Jablanac. Be­ tween the islands of Krk and Pag, the island of Rab The island of Krk is situated in the North-eastern serves as a kind of a bridge, close to Cres and Losinj, corner of the Adriatic, enclosing the Rijeka Bay from and over Pag the Kvarner islands will get more and the South-east together with the island of Cres which more connected with the wider Zadar area. is situated at its Western side. Towards the South, Krk The construction of modern roads on the islands in begins the sequence of other Kvarner islands. The is­ general, supplemented by the ferry transport with the land of Krk belongs to an ideally limited area covering mainland, establish better connections towards the some 410 km2 and it is the biggest island in the Adri­ centre of the island. atic, with 13,110 inhabitants in 68 towns and villages, and only in four of them there are minor industrial plants. This paper considers the island of Krk primar­ 2. EVALUATION OF THE TRAFFIC ily from the traffic point of view. The Romans ex­ SYSTEM ON THE ISLAND OF KRK pressed their admiration for the island with the words "Splendidissima civitas Kuryctorum" (The most "The most splendid island of Krk", as called by the splendid country of the Krk people) 1• Because of vari­ ancient Romans, was isolated in the Adriatic for a ous natural resources and traffic and geographic ad­ long time. Its natural resources were frozen and it had vantages, this island has geo-strategic significance and no developed infrastructure nor any unique traffic sys­ had been inhabited through history and centuries by tem. Using its advantageous geographic position, it the Illlyrians, Romans, Greeks, Slavs, i.e. Croats. It moves away from the mainland in the Southeast, but has also lived through various political transforma­ comes close to it in its Northest part, to a distance of tions, changing its masters and serving them as a col­ some 500 m only. ony. As the masters kept changing, the inaccessible ar­ By the social and traffic activation of this region, it eas were cleared, and later turned into paths and dusty began to flourish economically and in the traffic sense roads with the purpose of linking the island with the marked by three historic events. In 1959 the first ferry seaside and the neighbouring villages and thus con­ service was established between and Silo, trolling it entirely. They also defined and organised then in 1964 the second ferry service connected Crisn­ the traffic policy according to their needs and in accor­ jevo and Voz, providing a break-through in the island dance with their time and space. Such a differentiated isolation. The third event represented a turning point

Promet- Traffic- Traffico, Vol. 10, 1998, No. 3, 117-122 117 I. DadiC, T. Petrinovic, P. Brlek: Traffic System on the Island of Krk

Index: RIJEKA roads existing and planned

ferryboats operating and planned

the most isolated regions until mid 70's

0 5 15 km

Figure 1 Modern and future traffic connections of the island of Krk in the economic life of the island, and it happened in mary role regarding tourist movements. The develop­ 1980 by the construction of the splendid bridge "Krcki ment of the Krk infrastructure and the defining of the most" connecting the Omisalj area on the island of traffic corridors make the island an exceptionally im­ Krk, via the island of St. Marko with the portant transit area, especially through the following area on the mainland. 2 modes of transport: ferry, road, and air traffic, which By the construction of the bridge and the moderni­ will be discussed in the following sections. sation of the roads on the island both the island and its towns and villages became accessible and attractive to 2.1. Ferryboat service on the island of Krk tourists, unified by the traffic system into a whole and economically evaluated. Apart from tourism, the When tourism was still just beginning to develop, other main factor in the development of all the func­ the seaside villages on the island had good steamboat tions on the island is the traffic which plays the pri- connections with the area around the island, i.e. the

118 Pro met- Traffic- Traffico, Vol. 10, 1998, No. 3, 117-122 I. Dadic, T. Petrinovic, P. Brlek: Traffic System on the Island of Krk

Table 1- The - Merag ferryboat line

V ALBISKA- MERAG the peak traffic per months 1994 1996 (passenger/year) June 15,548 20,055 July 24,962 32,830 August 22,548 33,355 September 15,376 16,236 Overall traffic for the whole year 135,416 179,280

Table 2 - The Baska - Lopar ferryboat line

BASKA- LOPAR the peak traffic per months 1994 1996 (passenger/year) June 569 1,196 July 3,124 2,723 August 4,068 4,344 September 727 768 Overall traffic for the whole year 8,671 9,250 Average daily traffic in summer 115 114 mainland3. The growth of tourist traffic meant also but at the same time showing some oscillations. For the development of the white fleet which introduced the first time these showed with greater emphasis in modern vessels, ferryboats. The ferryboat traffic is a 1970, when the growth rate was 105, whereas it was special mode of maritime transport, which, due to its 480 on the Voz- Crisnjevo line. amphibian effect and efficiency represents one of the The "younger" line took over the majority of traffic modern multi modal traffic forms, because road traffic due to multiple advantages of the closeness of the con­ is the reason for the existence of ferryboat traffic, and tinental road section, short navigation corridor main­ it can be concluded that they are closely intercon­ land - island, direct access to the island main road and nected and difficult to separate. They represent a the tourist settlements on the island, constant ferry­ turning factor of the new traffic and economic situa­ boat operation regardless of the sailing schedule dur­ tion on the island most closely connected with its tour­ ing the tourist season, and traffic circulation with a ist development. The main reason for the sudden in­ greater number of ferryboats. crease in the number of tourists and road vehicles on In 1965, the "younger" line transported 167,802 the island was in the establishment of the three naviga­ passengers and in 1977 this number increased to tion corridors: Crikvenica - Silo opened for traffic in 1,447,484 with the growth rate 862. At the same time 1959, Crisnjevo- Voz in 1964, and Senj -Baska- Lopar the traffic of passenger cars increased on both ferry­ in operation since 1969, today still in operation but not boats from 35,330 in 1964 to 444,572 in 1977, with the including Senj. growth rate 1,1584. It can be noted that passenger cars The sudden increase in the road traffic frequency follow the movement of passengers and it is obvious found the island with an unprepared road infrastruc­ that the majority of passengers relies on passenger ture, and the motorised tourists needed good roads cars. By the construction of the bridge in 1980, the from the ferryboat port Silo to the rest of the towns traffic system is unified, and the ferryboat lines are dis­ and villages on the island. The statistical data show a continued. Today, the ferryboat traffic uses two navi­ progressive rise in the ferryboat traffic and a marked gation corridors: Valbiska - Me rag and Baska - Lopar. traffic dynamics of passengers and road vehicles on By analysing and comparing the statistical data Crikvenica- Silo and Crisnjevo- Voz lines. From 1964 presented in Tables 1 and 2, it can be concluded that to 1966 the Crikvenica - Silo ferryboat line realised the Valbiska - Merag ferryboat line shows a growth higher passenger traffic which amounted to 884,142, rate of 24.4% compared to the Baska - Lopar ferry-

Promet- Traffic- Traffico, Vol. 10, 1998, No. 3, 117-122 119 I. Dadic, T. Petrinovic, P. Brlek: Traffic System on the Island of Krk boat line which amounts to 6.27%. This means that from the seaside resorts, Njivice and - 1 km the Valbiska - Merag line is a markedly transit - dy­ each, and from 2 km, and 5 km. namic area due to its geographic location gravitating In the central Eastern part of the island of Krk, the towards Cres, and shortening the distances, whereas road Silo- Gostinjac- Risika- Vrbnik in the length of the Baska - Lopar line is in operation mainly during 15 km was reconstructed in 19'72, and then in 1975 it the summer tourist season5. was extended by a transversal in the length of 17 km - Kras- Gabonjin- Sv.Vid with exit towards 2.2. Road traffic on the island of Krk Malinska. The section from Krk via Sotovento to­ wards and Malinska has been reconstructed, The traffic of the highest intensity on the island of and the section Krk-V rh in the length of 5 km was re­ Krk is the road traffic. A good basis is provided by the constructed in 1977. Krk road infrastructure including a total of 200 km, The traffic situation over the period from 1962 to out of which 110 km are the main roads. According to 1972 is best represented in Table 3. the concept of traffic policy, and the gradual traffic de­ Thanks to the ferryboat there was a very high traf­ velopment the dusty island ways are being modernised fic frequency of passenger cars with an average growth and reconstructed into roads. In the beginning the rate of 39%, and of cargo vehicles with the growth rate roads were exclusively macadam, narrow and badly of 91 %, since that was the time of intensive building laid out, but they fulfilled the needs of the elementary on the island of Krk, and the truck-operators trans­ road traffic existing at that time, connecting the major ported the building material. and few settlements. The inter-town connections were By the construction and opening of the Krk bridge, very poor. the traffic system was unified, fulfilling the age-old The foundation stone of the Krk road network is dream of the Krk generations, and announcing a new the island main road Baska- Omisalj. This section was economic era in tourism and industry. widened and paved with asphalt in 1964, it was ex­ The statistical situation in road traffic on the Krk tended from Voz to Omisalj by 5 km, and in 1970 the bridge presented in Table 4, shows that by construct­ phase-like asphalting was completed and the dusty ing and opening of the bridge, the island of Krk be­ path turned into a single 53 km section from Omisalj came physically a part of the mainland, and a mark­ to Baska. Accordingly, the construction of the secon­ edly transit-transport dynamic area where the road dary sections followed, which access the main road traffic is of very high density during the tourist sea­ son6. Table 3 - Ferryboat traffic towards the island of Krk from 1962 until1976 2.3. Air traffic on the island of Krk

Passenger Cargo Year Total The Airport Rijeka has been built in the Northern cars vehicles part of the island of Krk, stressing the connection to 1962 47 8 55 the whole Kvarner region as well as the wider region 1963 64 12 76 of the Croatian Primorje (Seaside), and the whole county "Primorsko-goranska fupanija". It was opened 1964 - - - on May 2, 1970, before the construction of the Krk 1965 100 19 119 bridge. The airport was expected to fulfil high business 1966 152 32 184 ambitions and provide good economic profit. As a very important factor, the airport had to intensify the 1967 189 53 242 tourist traffic with prevalence of charter flights. Until 1968 174 59 233 1974 the air traffic was growing, and later it started to 1969 - - - decline gradually. That same year proved to be a turn­ ing point in the type of passengers, since foreigners 1970 - - - prevailed up to 1974 with a proportion of 52.8-75.7%, 1971 431 72 503 followed by an increase in domestic passengers and 1972 639 95 734 tourists later. Most of air traffic develops during sum­ mer, the tourist season, and the airport justifies its ex­ 1973 827 107 934 istence but not its capacity and power. In spite of opti­ 1974 879 95 974 mistic and successful traffic forecast, the Krk airport 1975 1,098 95 1,193 "Rijeka" has not succeeded in continuing in the posi­ tive direction. The reasons are various, but we shall 1976 1,163 94 1,257 mention the two main ones: lack of fast and qualitative Source: SGJ for the corresponding years connection to the mainland, in spite of the nearest fer-

120 Promet- Traffic- Traffico, Vol. 10, 1998, No. 3, 117-122 I. Dadic, T. Petrinovic, P. Brlek: Traffic System on the Island of Krk

Table 4 - Traffic over the Krk bridge in 1994 and 1996

VEHICLES PASSING OVER THEKRKBRIDGE Peak traffic per months 1994 1996 June 145,308 179,979 July 286,632 300,419 August 304,621 359,611 September 131,280 152,609 Total annual traffic 1,552,515 1,851,243 Average annual daily traffic (PGDP) 4,253 5,058 PGDP in '96 for domestic and foreign Domestic vehicles Foreign vehicles - vehicles 3,840 l 1,218 Average summer daily traffic (PLDP) 9,537 10,646 PLDP in '96 for domestic and foreign Domestic vehicles Foreign vehicles - vehicles 6,182 l 4,464 Growth rate to '94 16.1% ryboat line Crisnjevo - Voz which could not meet the should have been made in advance, and that transport higher passenger capacity. market should have been consulted as well. These disadvantages were overcome later by the construction of the bridge. The second very important 3. CONCLUSION factor is the fact that the airport is exposed to the bora (seaward North-eastern wind). Bora is the strongest in The seaside areas on the Croatian islands repres­ the Southern and Northern parts of the island, thus ent a very big problem regarding traffic. The main subjecting the aircraft in landing and taking off to in­ problem is not how to connect the islands with the tensive turbulence. The Krk airport is located in the mainland, but the essence of the problem is how to barren, uninhabited part of the island, topographically connect the island interior by quality and fast roads very suitable, but lacking long-term detailed system­ connecting all the towns and villages of the island, i.e. atic meteorological study7. The statistical data show how to establish traffic from the ferryboat ports to the that, unlike the road-ferryboat traffic, the situation in settlements and among the settlements. air traffic is completely different. During the seven The island of Krk is one of the examples of a rela­ years of its existence, the total realised number of pas­ tively good solution of traffic internal and external sengers has hardly exceeded the absolute value of half connections to the mainland. Due to the extremely in­ a million passengers (516,658), which corresponds to tensive road-ferryboat traffic, it had to meet the traffic the one-year ferryboat passenger traffic in 1966. In demand of vehicles and develop its road infrastruc­ 1977 the arrival of aircraft and passengers was by ture. A good internal road network has successfully in­ 90.2% lower than the estimates for that year, with the terconnected the villages and towns of the whole is­ deviations for the previous years being somewhat less land. The construction of the Krk bridge provided a severe. connection of the traffic system with the mainland, The real crisis of the Airport Rijeka started in connecting it to the Adriatic Highway. 1991, due to, among other things, the aggression on Thanks to the Krk bridge, the island ofKrk has be­ the Republic of , when 220 aircraft with 19,703 come a big traffic and transit area, for the inhabitants passengers in domestic and international flights and visitors of the islands of Krk, Cres, Losinj and the landed on the Krk runway. In 1992 the number of air­ neighbouring little islands, and thus also a satellite craft fell to 48 with 4,663 passengers, out of which 131 place of Rijeka. The traffic routes of the island of Krk were domestic. There was a somewhat greater number developed as a consequence of the economy and tour­ of landings in 1993 and 1994, and in 1995 a new de­ ism through successful defining of the development crease to 84 aircraft followed, and in 1996 only 62 air­ policy and modernisation of the traffic infrastructure. craft landed on the Airport Rijeka. During the first six The integration and modernisation of the traffic months in 1997, only 24 aircraft with 875 passengers system of the island of Krk have created new chances landed8. These disastrous data show that a scientific­ for the combined transport including air, road and research study on air traffic on the island of Krk maritime (ferryboat) traffic. The very high traffic den-

Promet - Traffic- Traffico, Vol. 10, 1998, No. 3, 117-122 121 I. Dadic, T. Petrinovic, P. Brlek: Traffic System on the Island of Krk sity on the island is the result of tourist and economic 3. Seaside resorts connected to the mainland by a steam­ development. boat were Omisalj, Njivice, Malinska, Krk, Punat, In order to satisfy the growing traffic demand, the Baska, Vrbnik and Silo. existing road network, especially the intersections, 4. Taken from the documents of "Jadrolinija", Rijeka need to be reconstructed and extended by careful and (The Analytical Service of the Inner Navigation) systemic traffic and physical planning. Here, the envi­ 5. Data obtained from "Hrvatske ceste" (Croatian ronmental protection as well as regional protection Roads), data on road traffic counts in RH in 1994 and 1996 need to be taken into consideration. 6. Data obtained from the Statisticki godisnjak (Stati­ SAZETAK stical yearbook) of the then (1959-1977) 7. Data obtained from "Hrvatske ceste" (Croatian PROMETNJ SUSTAV OTOKA KRKA Roads), data on road traffic counts in RH 8. The airport is topographically very well located regar­ lzgadnjom mosta kopno-Krk, otok Krk postao je dio ding all the major summer resorts of the Primorje - jedinstvenoga cestovnoga prometnog sustava Rijeke i Hrvat­ Kvarner Riviera. skog primorja. Taj je most, zajedno s trajektnim vezama iz­ 9. Statistical data taken from the statistical yearbooks medu Senja i BaSke na otoku Krku pridonio i bitnom pobolj­ (1966-1977) and (1991-1995) sanju prometnih veza otoka Cresa i Raba, osobito s Rijekom i obalnim dijelom Primorsko-goranske ali i Licko-Senjske i Js­ LITERATURE tarske iupanije. Pored veza otoka Krka s kopnom i susjednim otocima, [1] Bozicevic, J.: Prometna valorizacija Hrvatske , Zagreb, vaina je i unutarnja povezanost urbanih prostora na otocima 1992. medusobno. [2] Novosel, P.: Otok Krk od trajekta do mosta , Krk - Razvilk turizma pridonjet ce i sve vecoj ulozi krckog aero­ Zagreb, 1987. droma, osobito tijekom turisticke sezone. [3] Raguzin, A.: Punat I, Krcki zbornik, Krk, 1991. [4] Bolovic, M., Zic, 1.: Otoku Krku kroz vjekove, Zagreb, REFERENCES 1977. [5] RadaCic, Z., SimuiCik, D.: Ekonomika prometnog susta­ 1. The most splendid country of the Krk people - an va, Fakultet prometnih znanosti, Zagreb, 1995. inscription left by the Romans in the town ofKrk, which [6] AERODROM RJJEKA-KRK, Ekonomska dokumenta­ referred to the whole island cija zracnog pristanista Sjevernog primorja, Ekonomski 2. The construction of the Krk bridge began officially on institut Rijeka, 1968. March 25, 1976 and the opening was planned for No­ [7] Bozanic, J.: Poticanje iivota na otocima, Kvarnerski vez, vember 29, 1979, but was realised on July 19, 1980. No. 5, p. 11., Krk, 1997. [8] Markovic, 1.: Jntegralni transportni sustavi i robni tokovi, Fakultet prometnih znanosti, Zagreb, 1990.

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